Ain't no party like a Wii U party 'cuz a Wii U party's got Mario. And free food.

This past Sunday my friend Jenny hosted a Nintendo Wii U party. She had been approached by Nintendo to host this party - in exchange they gave her a brand new Nintendo Wii U and catered the event. For free!

Clearly she is a very influential blogger. And if I can't be an influential blogger then at least I can know one and eat their food.

The event was mostly for the kids to play Nintendo and for parents to learn what the new Wii U is all about (and then run out and buy one). But the adults did get plenty of play time in as well.

Although I admit most of my playtime was seen through the amber haze of a beer bottle. That could be said about a lot of what I do, come to think about it.

Emceed by Nintendo's own Chris and Brian, the event introduced us all to the Wii U game system and it's features, playability and new GamePad component.

Our friends' son Elliot broke out his finest suit for the occasion. Which was balanced by the kid in the background who didn't wear a shirt at all.

We played family friendly games like Super Mario Bros. U and Sing Party. Elliot was clearly not impressed by our friend Chris' rendition of Katy Perry's 'Firework.' This dapper young lad's taste in fashion is clearly matched by his taste in music.

I was really hoping Nintendo would bring Arkham City along with them, but they were going for more family friendly and multi-player titles I suppose. Although if they knew MY family, they'd have brought some Batman!

Here everyone is playing Nintendoland. One of the 12 games included in this title is a tag type game wherein the GamePad player runs off and after a few seconds' head start the other four players chase them down and try to tackle them. This game was a lot of fun; when I played it I had the tagee in my sights, until the GamePad player grabbed a star and became invincible! No one told me they could do that!

At the end of their time with us, Chris and Brian gave away a few fun prizes. I won a gift certificate and my step-son won a Wii U cup. Other prizes won included Wii U games and a stuffed Wario.

All in all the event was great fun, and Nintendo's Chris and Brian handled the cacophony of what seemed like a thousand kids in one little room like champions. I'd have liked some time to play with the GamePad myself, but I have to say as a family/party system the Wii U is a blast! We have the standard Wii at home, and play head-to-head games like Mario Kart all the time, but don't generally game as a family or with large groups. Personally I enjoy games that I can play alone and decompress from the world around me long into the night. But if you're not as curmudgeonly as I am and are looking for a game system that brings people together, while still allowing you to play those single player titles (enhanced by the WiiU GamePad of course!) then you can't go wrong with the Wii U.

Special thanks to my newest Toyriffic intern Mary, who took the pics for this post (except for the pic of Elliot the music critic, which was taken by Jenny.)